– Zambrano is hitting well (his .537 slugging pct would be good for 20th best in MLB), and has put together some great starts this season. The last time Zambrano went against the Dodgers, he threw 8 innings of one run ball and 130 pitches in a 2-1 Chicago win. D-Lowe has been hot as of late, compiling a 1.23 ERA over his last three starts.

Sunday:

Zach Grienke vs. Joba Chamberlin

-Grienke was a man possessed to start the season, giving up just five earned runs in his first five starts. Since then his ERA has risen from 1.25 to 3.56, as he has given up 17 earned runs in his last 19 innings (an 8.05 ERA in three starts for those of you calculating at home). Joba is still transitioning into a starter from his role of the next Mariano. He only lasted 2.2 innings in his first start in the majors.

Radhames Liz vs. Roy Halladay

-Orioles prospect Liz goes up against one of the leagues best in Halladay. Doc has gone 8+ innings in seven of his twelve starts this season, but hasn’t received much run support. Here are Toronto’s average runs during Halladay’s wins and loses:

Wins: 4.0 (28 runs in 7 vicotries)

Loses: 1.4 (7 runs in 5 loses)

Not really rocket science, and it shows how stupid and overvalued wins and loses are. Halladay has just been dominant (a K/BB of over 6/1) and would probably receive more recognition if he had a record more deserving of his stats.

Ervin Santana vs. Rich Harden

-Santana has put up much better numbers this year than he had last year. One difference is his home/road splits. He has never pitched well away from Angel Stadium, but this year he has improved his road numbers. In his career, he has pitched in 48 games both at home and on the road. Here are his numbers:

Home: 316.2 IP, 3.04 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 25 HR

Away: 254.1 IP, 6.48 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 46 HR

This year his road numbers have been much better: 3.59 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 4 HR in 47.2 IP. At McAfee Coliseum, he has a 1.57 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and a 5/2 K/BB rate in five games.

Tampa Bay won again yesterday, as did their ace Scott Kazmir. The young lefty improved to 5-1 on the season, lowering his ERA to 1.22. Yesterday’s start was only the sixth start of the year for Kazmir, as he spent the first month of the season on the DL with a left elbow strain. The Rays were 16-15 before his return on May 4th. Since Kazmir’s return they are 18-7 and own the second best record in baseball. Here is a look at Kazmir’s numbers this season through his first six games compared to last season through six games (note: all of Kazmir’s first six starts in 2007 came in April):

The most notable differences are the WHIP, ERA, strikeouts, and homeruns. Last April Kazmir was second in baseball in homeruns allowed. He has cut down on the long ball this year, and the results have been phenomenal.

Despite to his early long ball tendencies in 2007, Kazmir has always been below the major league averages for HR/9 (data from Baseball Info Solutions courtesy Fangraphs). In fact his numbers have followed the same path as the major league average for the past 4 seasons:

But how long will this last? The following shows the locations of Kazmir’s fastball so far this season. As you can see, he is leaving a lot of his fastballs up in the zone. Batters haven’t connected so far because of his velocity; but if this trend continues, it could lead to a spike in home runs. (Pitch F/X data courtesy Jay Paradise of Red Sox F/X)

Also worth noting is how different his start to this season is in comparison to the rest of his career. Here are his pre and post all star game splits for the past three seasons (2005-2007):

It seems that June is by far the month in which he struggles the most. Judging by the numbers, it appears the all star break does wonders for him. It will be interesting to see how he does as we enter into June. This season, June will be the second month he has pitched in, when typically it is his third month. We’ll have to wait and see if he reverts to his normal June performance, or if his current streak continues. If his current form holds and he adds to it with his normal post all star break numbers, he could have a Cy Young season.